Over the past six weeks Thunder City has attracted a significant number of overseas visitors who have come to Cape Town to experience the thrill of flying in one of the ex-combat jets belonging to this unique attraction.
Says Mike Beachy Head, Thunder City CEO: "We have been delighted and surprised at the number of foreign visitors who have come to to fly in our jets. There are clearly many aviation enthusiasts who do not mind paying top dollars to have the flight of a lifetime - something one is not able to do anywhere else in the world in this class of aircraft.
"The Hawker Hunters are popular with overseas tourists from a cost point-of-view, at US$3 500 (about R40 000) an hour, and because they are capable of remarkable aerobatics."
These stalwarts of the RAF and many other airforces of the world are capable of flying at around Mach 1. There are currently seven operational Hunters at Thunder City, with four side-by-side twin seat versions. The two ex-Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) Buccaneers from Boscombe Down are enormously powerful and highly impressive.
"They are singled out by the serious enthusiasts, who revel in low-level mission performance and - along with the Lightnings - for their raw power," says Beachy Head.
"The English Electric Lightning is a high-level interceptor and extremely fast. The foreign visitors who have flown in one of the two-seater versions of the Lightning have been overawed by the incredible power and acceleration, and by the mystical sights of the curvature of the earth at 60 000 feet."
Thunder City has been selected as an international training partner of the National Test Pilot School, based in Mojave, California. This highly respected flying academy conducts test pilot and test flight engineer post graduate training.
Apart from the visitors who come to Thunder City specially to fly in one of the jets, most people who visit the operational hangar want to experience the inner sanctum of an operational jet squadron and see the aircraft close up.
A recent high-profile visitor, Air Marshal Sir Ivor Broom, who was formerly head of civil and military air traffic services in the UK, was unequivocal in his praise for the project after he had been shown around the operational and maintenance hangars.
Said Sir Ivor: "I've had to fly half way around the world to see the pride of British aeronautical engineering preserved for posterity in such incredible operational conditions - including the only Lightnings still flying in the world today.
"Over 30 years ago, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis and the Cold War, I used to fly Lightnings, our number one fighter interceptor defence against any air threat to Britain.
"Now I can only marvel at these incredible aircraft and thank God that someone has had the vision, tenacity and entrepreneurial skills to bring all these aircraft, the Hunters, the Buccaneers, the Lightnings and a Strikemaster under one roof for all to see and for a few lucky ones to fly in.
Sir Ivor Bloom, KCB, CBE, DSO, DFC (and two bars), AFC, is one of the most highly decorated ex-RAF pilots in Britain, a veteran of the Battle of Britain and a squadron leader in the famous Pathfinders. Several books have been written about his exploits.